To the historians on this message board : From time to time I come across muster roll entries saying a certain soldier is absent with out leave during a certain perid of time but then other entries may show this same soldier on forage duty or horse detail. One muster roll entry (5th Virginia Infantry) for one of my ancestors says "Abesent without leave. Now in Cavalry Service".

My question is, what was the significance of being "Absent without leave" during the Civil War? It appears that someone may have been engaged on some other official duty but still be characterized as AWOL; much different than how we consider the term now.